Construction contractors and excavation contracting companies commonly maintain and utilize several different types of earth moving equipment. For example, excavation contracting companies commonly maintain and utilize track driven excavators, front loader/backhoe trackers, and skid steer tractors. An earth working implement commonly attached to the boom arm or lift arms of such earth moving equipment is a "bucket" utilized for digging, scooping, and moving dirt. Such an implement may easily be removed and interchanged with various types of hydraulically powered auxiliary earth working implements. For example, a hydraulically driven jack hammer may be mounted upon the end of the boom arm of an excavator or tractor backhoe. As another example, a hydraulically driven road grinding or planing machine may be mounted upon the lift arms of a front loader tractor or skid steer tractor. Hydraulic motor driven earth compacting vibrators are similarly attachable as an auxiliary implement either to the lift arms of a front loader tractor or skid steer tractor, or to the boom arm of an excavator or backhoe tractor.
Such auxiliary earth compacting implements commonly comprise a heavy off balanced or imbalanced steel wheel which is rotatably driven by an hydraulic motor. Such imbalanced wheel and hydraulic motor assemblies commonly rotate within a frame or housing having a lower compaction plate, the frame or housing being attached to a boom arm or lift arm. Rotation of the wheel of such assembly imparts vibratory motion to the compaction plate, and to compactable soil or sand underlying the compaction plate.
A drawback or disadvantage common to such auxiliary earth compacting implements is that they are expensive to obtain and maintain. An excavation contracting company seeking to outfit several excavators, front loader/backhoe tractors, and skid steer tractors with auxiliary earth compactors must purchase and maintain a vibrator assembly such as is described above as an integral part of each auxiliary implement. In the event the vibrator assembly of such an auxiliary compactor becomes damaged or is in need of maintenance, the auxiliary compactor implement is necessarily put out of commission while repair or maintenance work is performed.
The instant inventive vibrating mechanism solves the above described problems by providing an hydraulic motor driven vibrator unit which is interchangeably attachable to and removable from several different auxiliary earth compacting implements. Through utilization of a single unit of instant inventive vibrating mechanism, several different auxiliary earth compactors may be rendered functional. Thus, alternate and interchangeable utilization of the instant inventive vibrating mechanism results in cost economy. In the event one of the instant inventive vibrating mechanisms is in need of repair or maintenance, further cost economies are realized as a result of transferability of a similar vibrating mechanisms installed within other auxiliary earth compactors.